Baggage rack and attaching means therefor



Feb. 13, 1951 c. l.. vEKs|2RG|.\r\1 2,541,864

BAGGAGE RACK AND ATTACHING MEANS THEREFOR Filed Feb. 12, 194s v 2sheets-sheet 1 FICLi INVENTUR. n Carolus Lfkserqicnm.

Feb 13, 1951 c. EKsx-:RGIAN 2,541,864

BAGGAGE RACK AND ATTACHING MEANS THEREFOR '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb.12, 1948 n R. n N w R 9 0 m n W@ A 1L. 5 im m r fm,

n O 9 3 O 2 9 Li 2 m L @WV Patented Feb. 13, 1951 Unirse STATES ATsNrries , Carolus L. Eksergian, Media,` Pa., assigner to rEhe Budd Company,Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Fennsylvania Application February12, 1948, Serial No. Y7,959

Y 12 Claims. 1

The invention relates to baggage racks for passenger vehicles, such asbus and railway vehicles, and more particularly, to the structure ofsuch racks and the manner of their securement to the vehicle body walls.

Such racks heretofore have been supported by brackets of substantiallythe width of the rack secured at their cuter ends to the transversemembers -or carlines or posts of the vehicle body wall. Thisnecessitated accurately transversely aligning the brackets with thecarlines and made it dinicult to assemble the baggage rack as a separatesubassembly and then secure it in final assembly to the Vehicle bodyWall.

It is an object of the invention to provide a baggage rack which may bereadilyrassembled as a subassembly and then brought into nal assemblyrelation with the side wall of the vehicle and readily secured in placeregardless of any irregularities in the longitudinal alignment of theside wall carlines. Such irregularities are dfcult to avoid underpractical manufacturing conditions. y

This and other and further objects and advantages and the manner inwhich they are attained will become evident from the following detaileddescription when read in connection with the drawings forming a part ofthis specilication.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective View, with parts broken'away andshown in section, showing the baggage rack of the invention applied to arailway car sidewall;

Figure 2 is an exploded View showing, in reduced scale, a fragmentarypart of the car side wall insectional plan and the separate baggage racksubassembly in relation thereto prior to nal assembly;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the parts assembled;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view through thebaggage rack and adjacent portions of the car side wall; and

Figure 5 is a detail view similar to Figure 3 showing a slightmodification.

In accordance with the invention and as ernbodied in the showing inthedrawings, the baggage rack designated l@ is preferably subassembled as aunit extending the greater portion of the length of a railway carvehicle, or if desired, into separate lengthwise Valigned units eachextending'across a plurality of spaced care lines of the body 'sidewall.r In the drawings, the rack has been shown of a length extending 2across at least three of the spaced carlines or posts designated i6.

The baggage rack subassembly comprises a bers provide longitudinalconduits vfor wiring,`

etc., and the inner channel is shown closed by a moulding strip lliwhich may also extend outwardly to close most'of the bottom of thebaggage rack frame. rIhe top of the frame may be closed by alongitudinally extending plate l5 extending transversey from the innerlongitudinal member l2 almost to the outer member H. The subassembly soconstructed provides a stiff structure resistant against bending in itsplane and also having considerable torsional stiffness.

As shown in the drawings, the body side wall, with which the rack abovedescribed is associated, may comprise a framework consisting oflongitudinally spaced carlines or posts `l interconnected bylongitudinally extending vertically spaced'members I'l and I8 andreinforced by outer plating i9 and corrugated sheathing 2s and innerreinforcing plates 2l and 22, all in the vertical region of securementof the baggage rack.

As `shown in Figures 2 and 3, the rack subassembly i sof av length toextend across at least three carlines or posts i6, the central one ofwhich is shown of smaller area than the end posts, although it is to beunderstood that all might be of the same construction. It is to beunderstood also that the rack subassembly might extend over most of thelength of the car body, if desired. To facilitate the securement of thebaggage rack assembly lll to the posts I6 of the side wall, upper andlower brackets 23 and 2li are provided to connect the upper and lowerside walls of the channel members li to the posts i6. AThe brackets arepreferably first rigidly secured to one of the side wall and bag-- gagerack subassembly and then nally secured through a wide transverseoverlapping engagement with the other, this arrangement enabling thebrackets to secure the parts equally well irrespective of the slightlongitudinal misalignment of the posts unavoidable under practicalmanufacturing conditions,

A preferred method of assembly is to secure the lower angular brackets24 in place on the posts and at the same height for all the posts. Thissecurement is preferably by bolts 25. Then the baggage rack assembly isbrought down in engagement with the side wall until the lower side wallof channel I I seats on the inwardly eX- tending arm of the angularbracket 24. Aligned holes may now be drilled in the overlapping partsand they may be secuied together by rivets 25. The upper angular bracket23 may now be brought into place with its one arm overlapping the postsI and the other arm extending inwardly and overlapping the top side wallof the channel member II. Aligned holes may now be drilled in theoverlapping arin and post and these parts secured by bolts, as 25.Finally, the widely overlapping inwardly extending arm of bracket 23 andthe upper side wall of channel member I I may be secured together, as bywelding. It will be understood that welding might also be utilized inconnection with the lower bracket 24 instead oi the rivets 2%.

While the angular brackets 23 and 2li, in the forni of the inventionillustrated in Figures 1 to Il, are shown as extending across aplurality of posts, and this is the preferred forni, the form shown inFigure may also be used. In this form, the brackets are separatebrackets, as 23a, arrangedronly at the location of the posts and notextending between the posts.

With the arrangement shown and described, it will be seen that the wideoverlap bet veen the brackets 23 and 2li and the outer longitudinalmember II of the baggage rack assembly takes care oi all irregularitiesof longitudinal alignment of the posts, which results in greater spacingof some posts than others from the inner margin of member II.

Also, once the baggage rack subassembly is assembled as'desciibed, thebolted connection with Vthe posts permits of its ready detachmenttherefrom with the attached brackets with the assurance that the partswill realign in proper relan tion when again attached.

To complete the baggage rack after its main structure has been assembledwith the side frame of the body as described, suitable upper and lowerfairing strips 2'! and 28, shown in full lines in figure l and indot-and-dash lines in Figure 4, are secured in place to merge the upperand lower plates l5 and EG with the adjacent inner lining of the bodywall, as indicated at 29. The joints between the fairing strips and theinner lining 2 may be covered by suitable trni strips 3B.

While the invention has been herein described in connection with adetailed embodiment thereof, it will be understood that changes andmodifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the main features of the invention, and such changes andmodifications aie intended to -be covered by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In a vehicle body, a side wall having spaced vertical posts, abaggage rack of a l..ngt`;i extending over a plurality of said posts,scid be ge rack comprising an outer longitudii'ial ember of hollow crosssection and attaching means connecting said outer member to the postsirrespective of variations in spacing of the inner faces of the postsfrom the outer margin of said hollow section member, said attachingmeans having a, laterally Wide overlap with either said posts or saidmember through which the parts are iinally secured together irrespectiveof whether or not a gap exists between the respective posts and theouter longitudinal member oi said. rack.

2. In a passenger vehicle body, a vertically extending rigid side wallhaving spaced vertical posts, a baggage rack assembly comprising atransversely rigid frame including spaced inner and cuter longitudinalmembers interconnected by spaced transverse members and said assemblybeing of a longitudinal extent overlapping at least three of thevertical posts of said side frames, and brackets connecting the outerlongitudinal member of said rack assembly to said posts, said bracketshaving wide transverse overlaps with either the posts or the outerlongitudinal member of the rack assembly through which overlaps thefinal connection of the rack assembly to the posts is effected, thewidth of said overlapstaking care of any variations in spacing betweenthe inner faces oi the overlapped posts and the outer edge of thebaggage rack assembly.

3. In a passenger vehicle body, a side wall having spaced verticalposts, a rigid baggage rack structure oi a length extending over aplurality of said posts, said baggage rack structure coinprising anouter longitudinal member of hollow cross section and attaching meansconnecting said member to the spaced posts irrespective of suchdifferences in spacing between the outer margin oi said member and therespective posts as normally occur under practical manufacturingconditions, said attaching means being preliminarily located and.secured to either said posts or said member and having wide lateraloverlaps with either said member or said posts through which they arefinally secured thereto.

l. In a passenger vehicle body, a rigid side wall structure havingspaced vertical posts, a baggage rack structure assembled in subassemblyand comprising a rigid frame including inner and outer longitudinalmembers interconnected vby spaced transverse members, said rackstructure being oi" a length overlapping a plurality of the verticalposts or said side wall structure and brackets connecting the outerlongitudinal member of said rack structure to the posts of said sidewall structure, said brackets being rst rigidly secured to one of saidstructures and having wide transverse overlaps with the other of saidstructures, when the two structures are brought together in iinalassembly, through which overlaps the nal connection oi the structures iseffected, the width of said overlaps taking care of any variations inspacing between the inner faces of the overlapped posts and the outermargin of said baggage rack structure. v

5. In a passenger vehicle body, a lengthwise eX- tending wall structurehaving spaced carlines, a baggage rack structure assembled insubassembly and comprising a rigid frame including inner and outerlongitudinal members interconnected by spaced transverse members, saidrack structure being of a length overlapping a plurality ci" saidcarlines when disposed in final assembly relation with said wallstructure, and brackets connecting the outer longitudinal member of saidrack structure to the cailines of said wall structure, said bracketsbeing rst rigidly secured to one said structures and having wideoverlapping engagement in a plane or planes extending transversely ofVsaid Wall structure with the other of said structures when the twostructures are structure comprising a rigid frame including an outervvhollow section longitudinal member, said rack structure being of alength overlapping a plurality of said carlines when disposed in finalassembly relation with said wall structure, and brackets connecting saidlongitudinal member of said rack structure with the carlines of saidwall structure, said brackets being rst rigidly securedyto one of saidstructures and having wide overlapping engagement, in a plane or planesextending transversely of said wall structure, with the other of saidstructures when the two structuresare brought together in finalassembly, the nal connection of said structures being eiected throughsaid overlapping engagement and the width of said engagement beingsulcient to take care of any variations in spacing between the innerfaces of the overlapped carlines and the outer margin of saidlongitudinal member of the baggage rack structure.

7.In a passenger vehicle body, a side wall having spaced posts, abaggage rack subassembly of a length extending over a plurality of saidposts, said baggage rack having a rigid frame including an outerlongitudinally extending member of outwardly facing channel crosssection, and brackets connecting said member to the side wall posts,said brackets comprising an upper angular section member having its armssecured respectively to a post and the upper side wall of saidlongitudinally extending member and a lower similar section bracketsecured through its arms respectively to a post and the bottom side wallof said longitudinally extending member.

8. Ina passenger vehicle body, a lengthwise extending body wallstructure having spaced carlines, a separately subassembled baggage rackstructure comprising a rigid frame including an outer hollow sectionlongitudinal member, said rack structure being of a length overlapping aplurality of said carlines when disposed in ilnal assembly relation withsaid wall structure and brackets connecting said longitudinal member ofsaid rack structure with the carlines of said wall structure, saidbrackets being rigidly secured to l Number ations in spacing between therespective carlines and the outer margin of said longitudinal memberofthe baggage rack structure.

9. A baggage rack subassembly of a length extending across at leastthree carlines of a body to which it is applicable comprising spacedinner and outer hollow section longitudinal members and spacedtransverse members interconnecting said longitudinal members and formingtherewith a rigidframework, the outer longitudinal member providingmeans through the instrumentality of which the subassembly may besecured to a vehicle body wall.

10. A baggage rack subassembly of a length extending across at leastthree carlines of a body to which it is applicable comprising spacedinner and outer hollow section longitudinal members and spacedtransverse members interconnecting said longitudinal members and formingtherewith a rigid framework, at least the inner of said longitudinalmembers providing a conduit for wires or the like associated with thebaggage rack. o 11. A baggage rack subassembly of a length extendingYacross at least three carlines of a body to which it is applicablecomprising spaced inner and outer hollow section longitudinal membersand spaced transverse members interconnecting said longitudinal membersand forming therewith a rigid framework, a cover panel closing most ofthe bottom of said framework, and a cover panel extending across the topof said framework from the inner longitudinal member to a point adjacentthe outer longitudinal member.

12. A baggage rack subassembly of a length extending across at leastthree carlines of a body to which it is applicable comprising spacedinner and outer hollow section longitudinal members and spacedtransverse members interconnecting said longitudinal members and formingtherewith a rigid framework, the inner longitudinal member being aninwardly facing channel, and trim paneling closing said inwardly facingchannel and a substantial portion ofthe top and bottom of the frameworkfrom said inner longitudinal member outwardly.

CAROLUS L. EKSERGIAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the i'ile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Hamm July 6, 1909 McFadden Mar. 22, 1921Hagerty et al. Jul. 29, 1941 Landell Dec. 2, 1941 Arenberg May 26, 1942

